Dammit, do you remember what the question was?
“She wants to know if you have a date to the prom.”
Do I?
“I don’t know. DO you?”
Am I taking you?
“Not a chance.”
Then I guess I don’t.
“No,” I said, clearing my throat. “Sorry, got lost in thought for a second there.” That happened frequently with my Supergirl. She was much better at paying attention to what was going on around us while communicating with me than I was. I tended to get wrapped up in her.
“You weren’t trying to think of other girls you’d rather take, were you?” Chloe pouted at me and it was not at all that attractive.
“I really wasn’t.” Even though I totally was thinking about the girl I’d rather take. Why I was bothering to placate her, I had no idea. I wasn’t interested in Chloe. She was blonde, pert, hot, and everything a healthy eighteen-year-old boy should be interested in, but there just didn’t seem to be anything else there—nothing of substance. I would end up spending the entire evening avoiding her roaming hands and coming up with ways not to kiss her. I was known for being very picky about which girls I dated—because there was only one who I wanted to date, and she wouldn’t date me.
My psychic friend really had messed me up for all other girls.
“I’m not going with anyone either,” she hedged, trailing her finger down my arm. “Maybe we can go together.”
“Um, well, I wasn’t really planning on going.” That was the truth. Dances weren’t my thing. Boys hung out together and didn’t dance. We watched the girls bounce around and dance together, which wasn’t all that awful considering what parts of their bodies were bouncing. Only established couples actually danced at a school dance. I wasn’t really interested in standing against a wall with a bunch of other dudes all night.
“Are you kidding?” She practically shrieked. Why are girls always doing that? Why do they speak in octaves reserved for dogs when they’re surprised or mad?
“Because some are stupid.”
Gee, thanks.
“Anytime.”
“You just have to go, Jagger,” Chloe continued. “You’re the captain of the baseball team, and you’re in the court. You can’t get elected prom king if you aren’t there!” Prom king? Why would I want to be prom king? Guys did not find that title essential to their high school existence. It wasn’t something I strived for—baseball captain was, and I already had it.
“Oh, really? I didn’t know that.” Mainly, I didn’t know since I didn’t really care, but this seemed to be important. Truth be told, I didn’t even know I was in the prom court and wasn’t even sure what it was. Shouldn’t someone have told me about that? “Does that mean I’m supposed to take one of the girls in the court then?”
Chloe narrowed her eyes at me and leaned in closer. She gave me a look that said I couldn’t possibly be that stupid. Except I could be, at least with something that I couldn’t care less about. Prom wasn’t even on my radar. Hell, I was barely aware of the pep rally before the game next week. I probably had some responsibilities for that, too. “No. You don’t have to take any of them. You can take anyone you want. If you don’t have a date and I don’t have a date, we should just go together.”
“Okay, I guess.” That was easy. Things in the world go smoother when girls just make them easy.
“Ugh, Jagger, really? Her? She only wants to go with you, because you’re the baseball team’s captain and the pitcher. She needs to feel important, because she didn’t make the prom court. Two of her friends are on it, but they’re cheerleaders. She doesn’t think it’s fair that only athletes ever make the court. She’s trying to make a statement by going with the most popular guy in school.”
I had no idea how much politics were involved in this.
“You better clue back in. She’s already talking about limos and tuxedos.”
“I’m not wearing a tux, Chloe,” I insisted. “I’ll wear a suit only if the other guys are, but that’s all you’re getting out of me. I don’t even want to go to this thing.”
She pouted some more. “Fine, but I’m going to get you a tie that matches my dress. We don’t want to clash. What color is your suit? Is it black? Make sure you look tonight and text me. It’s important we look awesome. Pictures are going in the newspaper and online, not to mention in the yearbook.”
I mumbled something that might have been a commitment as the bell rung. She was texting her friends like crazy as she left class, while I was left wondering what had happened as I plugged my ear buds in and headed to lunch.
Alpine Valley, Colorado is a small town about an hour north of Denver. There are only about six or seven thousand people living in it. It’s mostly farmers and ranchers, but some kids’ parents work in Denver, like my dad. He’s a lawyer there. His commute is long, but he and my mom had wanted to raise their kids in a more rural area, so they found this little dot on the map. Since we live so far outside the city, the cost of living was less, and my mother didn’t need to work. That, and my dad is a corporate lawyer. He’d rather just have her home taking care of the house, my sister, and I ... and anticipate his every whim. He’s a big asshole, quite frankly.
There was nothing special about our high school. Same painted concrete blocks, fluorescent lights, and rows of dented and scraped lockers as any other school. There was no cool outside open area like the ones on TV or in the movies. I watched an old eighties movie where some kids were stuck in Saturday detention and they had to spend the entire day in the library. The library was this two-story behemoth with a cathedral ceiling and a multi-media room and who knew what else. Ours was small, dark, and if I had to spend a Saturday in it, I would go blind.
I moved through the hallways in the same daze as the other kids—or I should say the other guys. The girls seemed to make the most of their brief time between classes. I just wanted to move through the monotony as fast as possible so I could get to lunch. After that, I had one more class before baseball practice.
As always though, I scanned the faces of the girls, hoping a connection would pop up and I would get some clue as to who my mystery girl was. They all smiled the same back at me—coy, flirty, a little come hither. Well, no, not all of them. Some had boyfriends and didn’t look at me at all. Those girls I avoided looking at, I did not need trouble. Besides, I knew my Supergirl didn’t have a boyfriend.
I made my way to the cafeteria where it was already loud and noisy. My girl swore that we didn’t have the same lunch hour, but our connection was usually strong in there, and I thought she was lying to me. One thing I had picked up on over the years was that our connection grew stronger and weaker based on our proximity. It was always stronger in school, weaker when I was at home, and even weaker when my family went on vacation. I could hear her okay, but I couldn’t feel her when I was far away, and that was not a good feeling at all. There was an emptiness that stayed with me until I was back in town. Truth be told, I also got a little depressed and anxious. My family just thought I was too much of a homebody because I was the only one that didn’t look forward to vacation. Of course, it gave my father one more thing to hate me for.